Mysteries Around A Certain Wolf
by Imagined-Waif
Summary: It's not like I asked to be a ghost. It doesn't even make sense when I don't have a restriction to the place I died. I don't know where my body is. Now I'm getting pulled into something I never thought I would. Wait, I'm not dead? Where's my body? What am I going to do after I get it back? This couldn't be any more strange. I can't remember a lot either. OC pairing undecided if any
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I've got a bit of writer's block for my other story, so I'm going to see if this one will work out a little better. Enjoy, or not. Constructive criticism is welcome.**

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The woman walked past me, but this time, I followed. I even tried to grab her arm, but I couldn't touch her. Frustrated, I yelled a long string of profanity as I walked backwards in front of her. She just stared through me, like I wasn't even there. After a few minutes, I stopped to pant and just stared after her as she disappeared into the crowd. I felt the prickly feeling in my eyes, but I was fully aware that I couldn't actually cry in this state.

"I hate this. Why can't anyone see me? Am I really a ghost?" I mumbled to myself, making the pointless motion of wiping away tears that weren't there.

I tried not to think about it too much though, since that usually just puts me in a worse state of mind. I decided to go to a cafe I used to work at and wander around, since apparently no one can see me. A particular boy in the back where it was hard for people to see or overhear you caught my attention. All he had was a cup of tea and what I guessed was homework spread out on the table. I'd be lying if I said that auburn-haired university student was not attractive in the least. Out of pure curiosity, I went and sat down across from him. He seemed completely absorbed in his work and didn't notice me. Or, well, it would probably be more accurate if I said he didn't know I was there and probably wouldn't even if he looked up. He was a lot more handsome and well-groomed than I had initially thought, so I ended up giving a slightly depressed sigh and putting my elbows on the table and resting my chin on my palms.

"God, he's perfect." I muttered, half out of amazement and half out of jealousy. I jerked back in shock when he lifted his head at my voice and stared straight at me.

"Is this your way of flirting with me?" He questioned with quite an amused smile.

"U-Uh…Y-You can see me?" I managed to stutter out after a long silence in which I just stared at him in complete and utter shock.

"Of course I can. Why?" He was now giving me a look that suggested he thought I was crazy.

"I-I…No one else can." I said, finally managing to grasp the fact that I shouldn't be embarrassed if I'm dead.

"You're joking, right?"

I shook my head. "I wish I were."

"I don't believe you."

I stood up. "Here, watch."

I walked to a table and looked back at him to make sure he was watching. He was. I started by waving a hand in front of the guy, which earned no reaction. I then proceeded to sit cross-legged on the middle of the empty table and moving to slap his face, but my hand just went right though his head and got little more than a shiver in response. I even went and jumped up and down in front of a waitress, waving my arms like crazy and shouting, and she just walked though me. Concluding that I had just proven to myself that I was indeed a ghost and to the attractive student that he wasn't supposed to be able to see me, I went back and sat down across from him again. He looked utterly shocked and disbelieving.

"Is that good enough proof?" I asked, waving a hand in his face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I forgot on the last one, but I don't own Death Note. Maybe I'll put one of these every couple chapters.**

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He coughed and cleared his throat, recomposing himself. "Well, I guess this isn't very surprising." He mumbled, fist still near his mouth.

"Hmm? You've seen another ghost?" I asked curiously, sitting down across from him.

"Not exactly a ghost. Anyway, is this where you died then? Usually ghosts don't leave the place they died."

"Well, that would be awesome, because then I would know where I died and where my body might've been, but I can go anywhere and that's why I'm confused." I paused and added a mumble of, "But being killed in a cafe? You'd think that would be all over the place and a pretty cool place to die."

He ignored my last comment. "Really? Then why can I see you when I have never seen a ghost before?" He seemed to be thinking about this just as hard as I was.

"I don't know." I shrugged, but then lit up. "Oh! What if we had some kind of special connection or something from when I was alive?"

He gave me a skeptical look. "I've never seen you before."

I pouted and crossed my arms. "Fine. Maybe we were supposed to have a connection and now I'm dead. I don't know! You're not talking to freaking Einstein's ghost!" I threw up my arms in exasperation.

He gave me a look I could only assume was irritated.

"Okay, how about this? We go talk to the thing that you saw that's "not exactly a ghost" and maybe they'll have answers?" I suggested.

He thought about it, then began collecting his books. "Alright."

"One point for the ghost! Yay!" I cheered, following him out the door as I celebrated my good idea.

He was silent and walked with a straight face. I was a little confused until I realized he would look insane if he talked to me since no one else can see me. So, I looked around as I trailed behind him. I looked back and spotted someone tailing us, or, him. It's hard to get used to the fact people can't see you.

"Hey, uh, I don't know your name, but is that guy always following you?" I asked, walking beside him now.

He glanced out of the corner of his eye at me and nodded just slightly.

"Why?" I muttered, mostly to myself, as I looked back at the guy writing in a small notepad suspiciously.

When we got to his house, I followed him up the stairs, ignoring anyone else that may have been in the house. I was interested to see what he was talking about. I was almost excited. He closed his door behind him and closed his curtains, then turned around to look at me expectantly. I tilted my head slightly, then followed his eyes to where he was staring behind me. The thing standing there made me leap back a bit and get in a defensive stance, letting out a surprised gasp. It was really tall and looked almost like a clown, aside from the fact it had bluish skin and was wearing a black, feathery kind of outfit. The thing, I'm guessing it was a male, cackled and seemed rather amused by my reaction.

"You can see me?" He asked.

"U-uh, yeah. I'm a ghost-thing, I guess?" I responded nervously.

"A ghost?" Now he seemed interested. "Usually they're caught in the last moments of their death and confined to the place they died."

"Yeah, we already went over that." I glanced at the boy, who was now sitting in his desk chair watching our exchange. "What are you, anyway?"

"I'm a God of Death, Ryuk." He motioned to the boy. "He picked up my Death Note."

"Death Note?" I repeated curiously.

"We write names in notebooks that can kill those people to survive."

"Oh. Well, was that even a good idea to give it to a human?" I responded, then quickly shot, "Not to mean you shouldn't have it." to the boy.

Ryuk gave me an odd look. "You think I dropped it on purpose?"

"Well, by the way you're saying that, yeah, probably." I shrugged. "But why a human? If there's Gods of Death, then give it to something interesting, like a vampire or werewolf."

"How do you know if they're real?"

I shrugged again. "I don't know. Just a feeling. I can't remember a lot, so it's hard to say."

He cackled. "I like her." He told the boy, who just smirked.

"Oh right! My name's…Uh…" I had to think hard about it for a minute before it came to me. "Oh right! It's Rin Kobayashi."

"I'm Light Yagami." The boy told me.

I nodded. "Right, well, uh," I turned back to Ryuk, still not over the fact he towered over me. "Since you're a God of Death, would you happen to know how or where or even when I died?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Huh?"

"I don't keep track of deaths." He said, holding up his hands and backing out of the room. "Can't help." He disappeared through the wall.

I sighed, sitting down on the bed and shifting my pleading gaze to Light. He sighed and looked at me for what seemed like a long time.

"Well, it looks like you're in some slightly ripped clothing, so you probably died outside after a struggle of some kind. As for how, it doesn't look like you have any injuries, but I don't know enough about ghosts to say whether or not that's a valid assumption."

I thought for a while, closing my eyes to concentrate on something that seemed important but I was having trouble remembering. It finally came to me and I snapped my eyes open, sitting straight up as I got his attention away from writing and watching the news. I must've been thinking for longer than I expected.

"I remember being to the hospital a lot, but maybe I got into some kind of accident and taken there in these clothes. I think I was there a bit before my memories just cut off, so it could be from a relapse or something? Maybe that's where I died?"

"What were you there for?"

"I don't know. I can't remember that part." I deflated.

"I see." He said before turning back to what he was doing.

I mulled over the possibility I died at the hospital for a few minutes before I stood up and looked over his shoulder to see the pages lined with seemingly random names.

"What're you doing?" I asked curiously.

"Writing criminals' names in the Death Note." He replied after a short hesitation, watching me from the corner of his eye.

"Killing off criminals?" I asked quietly, unconsciously biting the side of my index finger before starting to giggle. "Good."

"Good?" He seemed a bit surprised and looked at me fully.

I nodded, composing myself into a neutral expression. "Someone should embrace the satisfaction of a justified kill. Killing's in our instincts. We are apart of the animal kingdom, after all."

Now he looked just plain confused and a bit shocked.

"Sorry. I can't remember much. That's just what…" I trailed off, realizing what was weird about what I had said. "What's wrong with me?" I mumbled, biting my finger again as I went back to sit on his bed.

"So, you're pro-Kira?" He asked after a minute.

I jumped a bit, but slowly lowered my hand. "Kira…The one mysteriously mass-murdering criminals with heart attacks…I guess I can see why, but I guess it really doesn't matter to me if it's just criminals. Rapists and murderers deserve to die, but I personally think it should be more painful than a heart attack."

He gave a light chuckle. "It's justice, not revenge."

"Revenge is more fun." I shrugged and flopped back onto his pillows. "How long until you're gonna sleep?"

"Why?"

"I'm considering sleeping here. Your bed is nice."

"Ghosts sleep?"

"I don't even know if I'm a ghost. Maybe I'm just cursed. Either way, I can sleep."

"Go ahead then. It's only four in the afternoon. I'll kick you out if you stay too long."

"Thanks." I mumbled, already half-asleep.

I would never sleep in the presence of a guy I just met, but I guess since he can't even touch me, it didn't matter. He can't do anything to me if his hand just goes through me. Besides, it seems like he'll be glued to that television and book for a long time. He's not interested in me aside from the ghost thing anyway. That's comforting and offensive at the same time.


	3. Chapter 3

I wasn't woken up, which wasn't exactly the strange thing. No, the strange thing was that I woke up in a hospital waiting room. As per usual, no one saw me as I drowsily stumbled out the door and attempted to find my way back to that guy's house to ask what happened while I was sleeping. Unfortunately, well into the afternoon, all I managed to find was that cafe. I decided to go a bit down the street to a sweet shop, but immediately regretted it when all I did for two hours was stand there wishing I could eat the delicious looking deserts and failing to terrorize and yell at the people eating them. When I was leaving the store, I noticed that guy and rushed to catch up to him, even walking through people in the crowd to do so. It felt weird, but I was in a hurry.

"Hey! Light!" I shouted, catching his attention and making him look around. Formalities be damned, this was the only person I could talk to.

"What do you want?" He muttered, acting as if he hadn't been called out to as I approached him.

"Harsh. I want to know what exactly happened when I went to sleep yesterday." I crossed my arms, walking backwards in front of him and pouting. "Do you have any idea why I ended up in the hospital waiting room?" I asked seriously despite not expecting an answer.

There was a flash of confusion and slight surprise on his face, but he didn't respond, as much as he looked like he wanted to. I rolled my eyes at him and pointed to his messenger bag.

"You've got a cell phone, don't you? Pull it out and call this number. It'll pick up, but no one will be there. Act like you're talking on the phone. No one will notice anything odd about that."

He gave me an odd look, but did what I told him to anyway and put the phone to his ear, glancing around for people who might've noticed his suspicious expressions.

"I just turned around and you were gone. Is that where you went last night?" He asked, still glancing around uneasily.

I held up my hands in a shrug. "I have no idea. I was asleep until I woke up there this morning."

He thought for a while. "Maybe that's the place you died?" He suggested. "Maybe it reset when you went to sleep and put you back? Did it happen before?"

I blinked, surprised when I suddenly remembered that it had happened before. "Every time I went to sleep I would end up in that hospital, but…" I bit my lip anxiously.

"What?" He urged me to finish.

"I never ended up in the same place in the hospital, so that's a stretch to say I go back to the spot I died."

"Did you ever search the hospital?"

I gave him an irritated sigh. "Yes. It's too big to search entirely though."

"Well, did you find anything?"

"Not really. By the way, that stalker you have is probably listening, so I would mention you're talking about a video game or something right about now. He's got a weird look on his face."

He gave me an odd look, obviously resisting the urge to look back. "Well I don't know, I've never really played many video games. Maybe you missed something there." He said, although it sounded a bit annoyed.

I grinned and made a motion of patting his head, even though I couldn't touch him. "Good boy." I recomposed myself and got back to the subject at hand when I saw the stalker looking a bit relieved. "Now, here's the thing. I always skip the third floor and I don't even realize it until I'm lost and can't find my way back to the hospital."

"How many times have you been there?"

"I don't know….Two hundred, maybe?" I shrugged. "I couldn't keep track."

"Two hundred?" He repeated, obviously rather surprised, though I don't know if he was putting on an act for the stalker or not. "How long have you been there?"

I blinked, realizing I hadn't really thought about it. "Well, it's been like this for over three years, probably. Why?"

"How old are you again?" He said it jokingly, but I knew that one was an act.

"Sixteen." I answered immediately, but then scrunched up my face in confusion. "But…I haven't changed over the time I've been here. I think I'm sixteen. At least, I think I was when people stopped seeing me." I grabbed my head, a sudden pain preventing me from thinking about it further.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine. I just can't make myself think about certain things or it gets worse."

"What gets worse?" He all but demanded.

"I…don't know." I muttered, reluctant to answer him now.

"Well then don't do that." He said lightly, supposedly still acting like we were talking about the game.

"Anyway, I'll try and remember some stuff, but for now, is it cool if I follow you around? You and Ryuk are more interesting than sitting around at a place I used to work wishing I could eat the food."

"Sure. It's no problem. Oh, one more thing. Where did you get that number?"

I gave him a bitter smile and shook my head. "No idea. I just had that paper in my pocket. Weird when I'm a ghost and I have a paper in my pocket, huh?"

"I see. You're as odd as ever." He gave a small chuckle and continued. "I need to go now, so I'll talk to you later." He was about to take the phone away from his ear.

"Hang on a second!" I stopped him.

"What is it?" He put it back to his ear.

"How old are you? You asked me, so it's only fair."

"Nineteen." He answered bluntly, then hung up and put away his phone.

I pouted at him, then gave up and just quietly followed him. Apparently, this guy was a senior in high school. My college assumption from the first impression was wrong and apparently he just had prep classes on top of the high school. He sure had a full load. Halfway through the school day, I decided to take off with Ryuk and play video games in Light's bedroom with him. By the time Light came home, Ryuk was laughing at me after I had lost for the umpteenth time.

"No fair! You totally cheated!" I shouted at Ryuk before noticing the raised eyebrow Light gave me while he locked his door behind him. "Oh, welcome home." I smiled sheepishly.

He sighed and sat down. "Sometimes I feel like a babysitter with you around."

"Hey! I'm not that much younger than you!" I argued.

"You don't have a reliable memory, so you can't say that for sure."

"Damn. He outsmarted me again." I muttered, biting the side of my index finger.

"I have things to do." He dismissed me, going to his desk and pulling out the familiar black notebook.

"Hey, what if you wrote my name in there? Would I ghost die?"

He gave me a smirk that made a shiver run up my spine. "Do you want me to try it?"

"N-Not really. I was just curious, you know."

"It's not supposed to work on anything but living humans." Ryuk said in a bored tone.

"Well, that answers that question." I sighed, feeling a bit disappointed.

"What? Were you expecting something complex?" Light asked, obviously knowing more about what the Death Note was even used for.

Ryuk cackled. "Shingami take the rest of a person's lifespan by writing their name. It would be useless to use it on a ghost with no visible lifespan or name." He pointed above my head for some reason.

"What? Lifespan and name? You know any person's lifespan and name?"

"Shingami eyes." Light answered shortly.

I sighed. "Well then, I guess I could've lied about my name and you'd never know."

Ryuk chuckled and more or less jumped off the balcony. I watched as he took off into the sky with wings appearing out of nowhere for a minute before running over.

"Where are you going?!" I shouted after him, but it was useless. I sighed and turned to Light, pointing with my thumb to where the shinigami took off. "Does he always do that?"

Light just shrugged and continued what he was doing.

"Well, I'm going to sleep. Give me a piece of paper." I said, holding out a hand.

He gave me an odd look, but handed me a ripped page from his school notebook. I made sure it wasn't from the Death Note, even if it wouldn't have mattered either way. I took his pencil and wrote, "Find the hospital name" on it in big letters. At least I've gotten better at actually touching non-living things, even if it is exhausting. I folded up the paper and stuck it under my tongue.

"What are you doing?" Light asked curiously.

"Reminder." I mumbled around the paper as I went to lay down. It took a bit longer to fall asleep, but I eventually did.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I forgot to mention it last time, but thanks for the first review, ****_DarkWriter00_****. I like to hear what people think.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note.**

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When I woke up, it was sprawled in a hallway in what was most likely a hospital. I got up and coughed, spitting out some kind of paper. I opened the note and suddenly remembered what I needed to do this time. So, clutching the damp paper in my hand, I set out to find out the hospital's name. I was stopped about halfway through when I saw a nameplate on one of the long-term patients' doors. I stood frozen on the spot for at least five minutes. This was not what I thought happened. Actually, I was sure I had died and having a long-term hospital room was not adding up with that theory. In fact, it only serves to prove the opposite of what I had initially thought.

I didn't even find the hospital's name, I just went back to Light's house after a few hours of being lost. I then proceeded to convince him to come with me before I forgot where it was, and rushed him when he silently insisted that he walk slowly. I even started pushing on his back, but that didn't work too well and tired me out, so I gave up and just walked backwards in front of him.

"So, you somehow got rid of your stalker?" I noticed the lack of his shadow.

He gave a slight nod in response to my question.

"Okay, well, I don't really have a plan, but you should probably just say you're a classmate or something. If they don't want to let you in, just nod and walk to the elevator as inconspicuously as possible. I can go through the door and let you in, I think."

He gave me an odd look.

"I know, I know. It's not a very well-prepared plan, but I am freaking out. I thought I was dead!" I cried, rushing him through the hospital doors now.

He went up to the counter and smiled at the woman sitting there. "Hi, do you know if there's a Rin Kobayashi here?" He asked politely. "I'm a friend from school."

"Oh, yes, the girl that's been in a coma for the last three years. There is still some brain activity most of the time, but I doubt she'll wake up anytime soon. Did you want us to put something in her room for you?"

"No, thank you. I would prefer to go see her personally. Could you tell me which room it is?"

"Sure. It's room 327."

"Thank you." He nodded to her and flashed another charming smile, then turned and went to the elevator.

I followed him and couldn't help the dumbfounded expression I had stuck on my face.

"What it is?" He mumbled.

I shook my head. "Uh, nothing. Just, she gave a bunch of information about me to someone who isn't even a family member without question." I felt slightly uneasy about my body's safety with staff like that.

"Maybe she figured no one would know she did." He dismissed quietly as the elevator doors opened.

Once we were inside the unlocked hospital room, I felt a bit faint.

"Hey, you're starting to disappear." Light said, hand halfway extended to touch my shoulder, but stopped with the realization he couldn't. It must've been a reflex he had to try and stabilize a person when they didn't look good.

"I'm fine. But…I look older, don't I?" I asked, motioning to the body laying on the bed.

She had my dirty blonde hair colour and pale skin tone, but she looked like an older me with longer hair. I'm willing to bet that those closed eyes are the same dull greyish blue hue as they had turned out to be once I had become a teenage. They used to be a bright blue when I was younger, but that wasn't important at the moment. It was really like I had been a ghost for three years and hadn't changed because I couldn't remember. She looked thin and weak though. The beeping showed a steady heartbeat, but the brainwave chart was still going like I was still thinking inside my body while I was in this ghost-like state. I guess it's hard to explain. As my conscious self felt like it was fading more and more, my older body on the hospital bed was beginning to stir. Light was oddly quiet, but then again, I probably wouldn't have heard him if he did say anything anyway.

I blacked out, but the next second, I opened my eyes from a different viewpoint. The steady beeping from before was now erratic. I was gasping for breath and my eyes darted everywhere before I looked at Light, who looked to be pretty confused as well.

"Am I..?" I gasped out, my voice quiet and hoarse, likely from disuse.

He nodded, then turned and went out into the hallway, coming back with a nurse a minute later. She shooed him out of the room quickly and began checking me over and asking me a series of questions I didn't really know the right answers to. I was quite thankful for the large glass of water she gave me before making me talk. After what seemed like half an hour, the busy doctors and nurses left and Light came back in. He didn't say anything before a tray of food was brought to me and I didn't think twice before I started eating.

"Ugh, hospital food is awful." I whined, making a face.

"Can you see Ryuk?" Light asked, serious expression on his face again.

I shook my head. "Why? Is he here?"

He nodded.

"I don't know what happened, but you should probably go before my mom comes back. Come see me in a few days. They're going to be running tests like crazy. They're all saying it's a miracle or something."

He nodded and left without a word. Apparently he was just as shocked and confused as I was about what exactly happened, just more composed. It was an hour later that my mom came rushing in and smothered me while apologizing through tears for not being able to leave work as soon as she heard.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note.**

So, I spent the first day in the hospital going through tests and my mom crying like I had just come back from the dead. According to doctors, I wasn't even technically dead when I was out though. Besides, if any of the horror stories I'm acquainted with have a shred of truth to them, bringing back anything that died is not bringing back what you knew and it is likely a horrible creature that wants to kill everything or something like that and I am definitely not thirsting for blood at the moment, so I must not be the living dead. Still, this incessant blubbering from a grown woman was starting to wear on my nerves. Eventually, she told me this was actually kind of bad timing, since she was going on a two-day business trip, but the nurses told her they wanted to keep me here for at least a week to make sure everything was all normal anyway. The second day, I was allowed to go take a bath, which was horribly cold and unsatisfying by the time I had crawled into it due to wobbly legs and weak arms, and then they made me sit down and took enough blood that I felt the need to sleep straight through the night and half the morning. The third day, I got some more tests, more involving my brain this time, and did some research because I was so bored for the hours in between and managed to get a computer.

The fourth day I didn't have any tests scheduled and refused to shower at the hospital. I found some clothing my mom had dropped off in a backpack, then decided to sneak out. An amazing feat when most of the staff recognized me and I somehow managed to escape out a door in the stairwell without being seen. I have no idea how I did it actually. Sheer dumb luck is most likely how.

I took the backpack with me as I darted across town in a hospital gown, receiving many strange looks, and ended up at the door of a familiar house. I knocked and rang the doorbell in a rather quick and annoying manner as I gave nervous smiles to concerned passerby. The door opened and I saw a familiar face.

"Light!" I lit up and grinned at him. Am I ever thankful none of his family opened the door. Now that would be hard to explain.

"Rin? Why are you out of the hospital?" He asked with a concerned look.

"Well, you didn't call or stop by, so I decided to come here." I patted his shoulder, a look of delight crossing my face as I could actually touch him. "Oh, and since you owe me, you should let me use your shower. The hospital has freezing water and terrible pressure." I invited myself in and walked past him after slipping the hospital slippers off my feet. "Where're your towels?"

"Wait! I don't see you for three years and then you wake up from a coma and you just walk in like you've been here before?" He scolded me.

I gave him an odd look, about to point out that we only met about a week ago and I had actually been here before, but he cut me off before I could say anything and sighed.

"Alright, it's this way." He motioned for me to follow him up the stairs. "And don't make a mess."

"Got it. Oh, but I've got to talk to you, so stand by the door."

He gave me a look like I was crazy. "Why? Can't we talk after?"

I shook my head. "I've only got an hour at the most before I have to go back. The nurses check on me every three hours and I already used up one sneaking out. I need to leave enough time to sneak back in too." I smiled coyly and added, "Besides, I'm sure you won't peek, and if I do catch you," I paused, thinking about it a little. "Well, actually, that's kind of flattering coming from Mister Perfect."

He rolled his eyes, but didn't acknowledge my last comment any further. "Why did you sneak out?"

"Because I wanted a good shower! And I needed to talk to you about something!"

He sighed again, rubbing his eyes. "About what? I am busy, you know."

"Shut up and listen!" I snapped as I left the door open a crack and stripped as I tried to find a way to put it in order to play along with his clueless act. Since I did barge in here, I suppose I could at least indulge him. "I did some digging, and you know how I was talking about being out of my body? Kinda like a ghost state when I was asleep?"

"What about it?" He sounded like he was talking to a child about their imaginary friend that he obviously didn't believe existed.

"I'm serious!" I shouted at him over the sound of running water, then got back to the point. "So, apparently it's called astral projection or something. My mom told me about it too. When I was a kid, she noticed I knew what a room looked like or where to go before I'd ever been there. She would set up rooms and rearrange objects in them without letting me see and she said I would still be able to tell her exactly how the room looked after keeping my eyes closed for a few minutes. She said my dad's side had a history of weird occurrences and stuff, but he never talked about it before he disappeared."

"When did your dad disappear?"

"I don't know…It's been three years, right? I think it was five years ago now."

"You never talked about your dad." He commented quietly, as if we had been good friends for a while.

"Because I didn't know what happened to him." I shrugged, even though he couldn't see it and it was a bit awkward when I was trying to shampoo my hair. "Anyway, the real mystery is how I ended up in the hospital. No one, not even the nurses who found me outside the front doors, knew what happened or how I ended up there. They did say I was injured pretty badly though. I had to have my heart stitched and now there's a scar there!" I think that last statement sounded a bit too proud. I looked down at the scar on my chest with the same amount of pride though. I don't care what people say, I think scars are the coolest thing if they're not self-inflicted.

"Shouldn't you have died then?" I could imagine the deadpan on his face.

"Well, that's just it. They said it had already been done before they found me. So, whoever brought me to the hospital treated me and the hospital just made sure everything healed properly. I wasn't even on life support after the first two weeks."

"Leave it to you to pull off the impossible." He sounded exasperated.

I shut off the water and began to dry off. "Well, it's not impossible, just improbable. I like to think nothing is impossible."

"That's rather optimistic of you."

"No, I mean actual nothing. Nothing is impossible. Like when you say you're doing nothing? That's a lie. You're still breathing and living and thinking. And when people say nothing is there? No, that's wrong. There's always something, even if you can't see it." I thought about it very briefly and added, "But I guess it is easier to say nothing rather than saying all that when you're answering someone."

There was a long pause, then he said, "You get stranger by the second."

"Hey!" I poked my head out of the door to shoot him a glare. "Don't call me strange when you're the one who's obviously hiding something right now. What is it? Porn?"

"N-No!" He seemed to be taken off guard by the question. "I'm not hiding anything."

"Yeah, I'll believe that when shinigami bring people back to life and they're not horrible creatures that only want to kill." I told him and received a strange look from him as I went back into the room to get dressed.

"I've never heard that expression before."

"Good. It's original then." I rolled my eyes and pulled on the hospital gown over my clothes like it was a robe. I exited the bathroom and followed Light back to the living room. "By the way, where is your family?"

"They're all out right now, why?"

"Just an afterthought, but I really shouldn't have left the bathroom door open when it's just me and a guy my age in an empty house."

He paused, then started laughing. "You know I wouldn't do anything, don't you?"

"Just because you wouldn't do anything doesn't mean you didn't peak. I just didn't catch you, what with you being the crafty genius here."

"I didn't, I swear!" He held up his hands in defence. "You're not even my type."

"Oh really? You have a type?" I asked with a mischievous grin, but didn't wait for him to reply before changing the subject. "Alright, well, I'm going to be in so much trouble if I don't get back in time. Maybe I'll come use your shower again tomorrow." I said as I headed for the door. "Oh, and I gave you warning this time, so don't be busy or be an overachiever and study!"

"Okay, okay. Bye, Rin." He smiled and shook his head at me.

"Maybe I'll tell them I'm going and we can go to that cafe and I can finally have some delicious cake!"

"Good luck."

"See ya."

When I got back to the hospital, I just walked in the front door and the nurses I passed seemed surprised to see me walking back to my room, but none asked where I was or anything. I just smiled politely at them and went back as if it was completely normal for me not to be in my room. It wasn't, but I talked to the nurse usually checking on me and told her I went out to see a friend and have a nice shower. She just laughed and told me I could just tell someone if I wanted to go out and it wasn't a big deal since they had all the tests done and being analyzed. The condition was to not strain my still rather weak and recovering body while I was out. She also mentioned that I may be getting out sooner than expected.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Death Note.**

The next afternoon, I had to lean against the house beside the door, grimacing and holding my side. Light opened the door and didn't say anything, just looked utterly shocked.

"Sorry, I didn't have anywhere else to go." I said quickly and quietly, flinching from the pain of clenching my fingers too tight while they were pressed against a sensitive area.

"Who's at the door?" A girl's voice called.

"Just a friend of mine." Light called back, still sounding as surprised as his face expressed. "Rin, what happened?" He helped me inside and let me sit down on the floor to take off my shoes.

I'm not sure if he was acting or not, but I knew something was up with him these past two days. Despite not knowing him well, he didn't seem like he would care all that much about what happened to me unless there was something in it for him. I pulled my hand away from my side and looked at it to see the red liquid covering my fingers. I flinched and put my hand back over the wound, cursing under my breath. I tried my best not to get any on the floor as I stood up.

"Uh, it's a long story."

He crossed his arms and gave me a hard look. "No it's not."

"Okay, fine. I can make it short. But, uh, I can't tell you with your sister in the other room." I whispered the last part, glancing to where I believe the living room was.

He nodded and helped me upstairs to the bathroom where he pulled out a first aid kit and I pulled up my shirt to let him clean and bandage my wound. I guess he really was smart if he knew what to do and could keep a level head right now. For some reason, this situation was oddly familiar, but it felt off that someone else was tending to my wound. Maybe I got injured a lot and treated myself? I can't remember. I'm probably a klutz or something.

"Thanks." I muttered while he got something ready and dabbed it on my wound, which made me follow it with a hiss of pain.

"Why didn't you go back to the hospital?" His voice sounded strained and irritated. "Won't they notice?"

"Uh, well, I was released this morning. All the tests were normal. But, when I got to my house, my mom freaked and then told me she was being evicted and she was moving into an apartment. She gave me the address and I told her I'd come later when everything was settled since she pushed for me to leave, so I was wandering around."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Okay, I just didn't want to stay there for another three days. And be asked more questions about why I didn't need more than a couple sessions to move properly."

"Then how'd you get hurt? Is this…a stab wound?" He seemed shocked when he identified the type of wound upon closer inspection after cleaning.

"Uh, yeah, about that…A guy stabbed me." I replied, giving him a sheepish smile and rubbing my neck.

"Rin! Who?! Why?!" He demanded, giving me a concerned as well as angry look that actually just seemed out of place on him. Well, to me, anyway.

"Um, some gang member? I don't know. I accidentally made a comment about how he was treating his girlfriend out loud and he told me it wasn't my business. She looked like she was terrified of what was going to happen to me, but I couldn't stop myself. He kind of pissed me off and I told him he didn't deserve a girl like that and called him a horse-face. That's when he stabbed me, then took off after his girlfriend who ran away when he did. So, yeah, I got stabbed for trying to tell a guy his girlfriend was uncomfortable and he was being a jerk. Wrong person and a big mouth."

Light sighed. "I should've known it was your fault."

I shrugged. "You really should've. I thought the guy couldn't hear me when I said it and then I couldn't stop myself." I took a deep breath, then crossed my arms defiantly. "I didn't think he would just randomly stab me! What kind of person does that when criminals are dropping like flies!"

Light tensed up, then relaxed and gave me a sad look. I returned it with a confused one. He finished putting a pad of gauze over my wound. The silence was pretty heavy, as if Kira was something depressing and I wasn't supposed to mention it at all.

"A-anyway, sorry I came here. I didn't want to freak my mom out more. She's having a hard enough time. I was going to go to the cafe today and see if I could get my old job back."

"Already? Are you sure you don't need more time to recover?"

I clenched my jaw briefly. "I don't have time for recovery. My mom's barely getting by right now and I need to help her since I'm gonna live with her again." I sighed and got up, pulling my shirt down again. "Wanna come with me? You know, just in case I start feeling faint from blood loss?"

He stared at me for what seemed like a long time, then sighed and motioned for me to follow him to his room. "That stain is going to scare people. You can wear this to cover it up." He tossed me a hoodie out of a drawer.

I pulled it on and held out my arms to look at how much it hung off of me when I zipped it up. "Geez, you're taller than me, so this is crazy big."

He laughed light heartedly. "It's fine, let's go." He led me out of his room and down the stairs.

"But what if people think I'm your girlfriend because I'm wearing your clothes?" I whined.

"No one will think that." He retorted, completely serious.

"No one will think what?" The girl's voice from when I came in approached along with a dark haired girl who looked somewhere around preteen age. "Woah, Light! You didn't tell me you had a girl over!" She said with a mischievous grin.

"Sayu, this is my friend from middle school, Rin Kobayashi. Rin, this is my little sister." Light introduced politely.

"Hi, nice to meet you! Light hardly ever has girls over!" The dark-haired girl said cheerfully as I stared at her blankly.

"Uh, I'm not his girlfriend, I'm just borrowing this." I stated awkwardly, trying to motion to the hoodie but instead just flopping a sleeve around.

Sayu blinked and looked me up and down, then burst out into laughter. Surprised, I took a step back and looked at Light, who was rubbing his forehead like he was dealing with two idiots at the same time. Honestly, I hadn't realized I had just said that until after she started laughing. Okay, I really need to work on filtering what I say now that people can actually hear me.

"Rin, no one will notice unless you just blurt out stuff like that. What happened? Did you lose the ability to filter what comes out of your mouth?"

"Uh, sorta, I guess." I mumbled, looking down at my feet. "Sorry."

"I didn't think my brother had a girlfriend anyway. He's pretty boring." Sayu told me, calming down to just a grin.

"Yeah, all he does is study and hide di-"

"Hey!" Light cut off my comment as Sayu started laughing again. He glared at me, but I just smiled innocently and shrugged.

"Hey, I like her! She's funny!" She said to her brother, then turned and ran off calling, "Mom! Light is going out with a girl!"

Light pushed me out the door, yelling a goodbye over his shoulder and then closing the door behind him and sighing in relief. He looked around to make sure no one was following us once we were off his street. As we walked, we didn't say anything and Light was checking all the creases and pockets of his clothes, then he checked mine, which was somewhat awkward, but mostly just weird.

"What are you doing?" I asked suspiciously when he made me stop because he was checking my pockets for something.

"Good. I don't think they bugged us." He said, ignoring me.

"They?" I raised an eyebrow.

He sighed. "The Task Force."

"The one your dad works on?"

He nodded. "Yeah. They're working with L now."

"L?" I gave him a curious look. "Who's L?"

He gave me a weird look. "A world famous detective."

"Oh. Well, I've never heard of them." I didn't get a chance to add my question of why it was only a letter.

"No one knows his name or his face, but I'm pretty sure there are cameras all over my house. I made Ryuk check and he told me where they were."

"C-cameras?!" I froze up in fear. "Y-You don't mean they're e-everywhere, right?"

"No, they're everywhere. The bathroom too." He didn't seem to be paying attention to my fear, but I'd guess he was just ignoring it.

"W-Were they there when I-I-" I couldn't even say it out loud.

"Yes." He was back to being serious and rather cold again.

"Light! You could've told me not to use your shower! Who saw it?!" I waved my arms around frantically, which probably was quite the sight with the sleeves flapping around everywhere as I did so.

"I don't know. A bunch of men on the task force and probably L, why?"

"Because that's a total invasion of privacy and I'm not even the one being suspected of being Kira!" I hissed, then flinched and grabbed my side at the feeling of the gauze becoming wet with the piercing pain that randomly tore through it. I took a few breaths to calm down and stop stressing my body just because I got worked up. "So, that's what's up with the act that we've been friends for a while."

"I'm just glad you played along. That could've been bad if you mentioned anything about me being Kira." He said quietly, looking around the mostly empty street.

"Well, I figured something was up if you were acting like I was your friend and acting completely clueless. If things were normal, you probably would've just went and wrote names while I was talking to you and talk to me all serious like you are now."

"Well, since you showed up like that, we're going to have to act like old friends." He said, slightly annoyed.

"Sorry, I don't know anyone else."

"Didn't you have friends?"

"No." I answered, looking up at the overcast sky. "Not anyone I saw outside of school. I don't really remember their names anymore anyway. Actually, I don't remember much of anything about myself other than my parents and a little bit of school."

"So, that astral projection thing you mentioned, was that what really happened?" He decided to change the subject to something that would actually get somewhere.

"I have no idea. It was a theory."

"It was just a theory? Are you going to try and back it up?"

"Well, as soon as my mom's all good in the money area, I'll be searching for my dad and some answers."

"What was his name?"

"Rick. He's descended from an American family, but mom said his parents changed their last name when they came to Japan, so I have no idea what name he might be using now. That is, if he or anyone from his side of the family is still alive."

He just nodded, seemingly going into thought.

"So, you've got a world-famous faceless detective on your case? What're you going to do to throw him off?" I changed the subject.

"Well, you might've already done that for me."

"Huh?"

"Really?" He seemed slightly surprised I hadn't figured it out already. "Randomly showing up when no one's home but me, then showing up the next day with a stab wound is pretty suspicious, you know."

"Well, you could've told me your house was bugged by coming to visit me at the hospital earlier!" I snapped, crossing my arms defensively. "Besides, is that really behaviour that Kira, a completely unknown criminal, would have?"

"He doesn't know, that's why I'm sure he'll be suspicious of you."

"He?"

"L."

"Why is L a guy all of a sudden?"

He sighed. "You're missing the point."

I narrowed my eyes, but dismissed it. "Alright, so what you're saying is you want me to act more suspicious, right?"

"No, just act normally."

"Hey!" I swatted his arm, but grinned. "Alright. I'll visit again tomorrow, but you've gotta show me how to see Ryuk now that I can't after you're not being watched anymore."

"If you're not arrested by then." He replied in monotone.

"I won't be." I shrugged, then spotted a dog tied up and ran over to it, crouching down to pet it. "Hey there little guy! Your owner in there?" I asked, looking into the store to see a woman watching me be affectionate toward the dog. "Is that her?" He barked in reply, so I smiled and waved to her. She waved back and smiled, then disappeared further into the store.

"You know, I think I liked you better when you were a ghost." Light said in exasperation.

"Why? Just because I love stopping to pet a dog?"

"No, because when you were a ghost you didn't get into as much trouble."

"Fair enough." I stood up, waved goodbye to the dog, then continued to follow Light toward the cafe.

He stopped at the end of the street though and grabbed my arm to make me stop too. I turned to ask what was wrong, but he pointed to my side. I looked down in confusion, but my expression melted to shock when I saw the small spot of red starting to stain the sweater. I panicked, looking at Light while blinking my stinging eyes rapidly.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry! I'll take it off and go home so I don't stain it more! I'm sure it'll come out, right?" I said in a rush, removing the sweater and shoving it into his hands. "I'll see you later!" I shouted over my shoulder as I ran off toward where I believed the apartment building we were supposed to be moving into would be.

When I got there and into the room I had a key for, I was relieved to see my mom had left a note saying she would be working late, but everything was already moved here. I rushed to the bathroom to take off the bandage patch and check the damage. It didn't look like a very deep wound, but I opted for putting a lot of pressure on it until it stopped bleeding so I could clean and re bandage it. Surprisingly, that familiar feeling came back, just stronger this time, and I somehow knew what to do without looking at the instructions provided in the first aid kit.

After I finally managed to stop the bleeding and dress my wound with the first aid kit I found under the sink, I went to eat something. I decided to go to the cafe after, with a clean shirt and no blood this time. I had no doubt gotten some weird looks when I was running back here with a bloody shirt, but I didn't see anyone from the building giving me weird looks when I left, so I believed I was good. I applied for my old job and had an interview with the lady who owned the small cafe almost immediately afterward. She re-hired me, but insisted I took the week off to recover more and just come in the following Monday. Reluctantly, I agreed, enjoyed some cake and telling her about when I woke up in the hospital. I left with a polite goodbye and returned to the apartment shortly before it got dark out. I was exhausted, so I just collapsed onto my bed and didn't even have to try to fall asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note.**

On a whim, I went back to Light's house after taking a shower and changing bandages. When I got there though, no one answered the door. Disappointed, I turned around to leave, but noticed someone hide behind a fence when I did. After a minute of confusion, I dismissed it as nothing and started to walk to the local park. I played with a dog tied outside a store on the way, but when I looked out of the corner of my eye, I swore I saw someone a distance away staring right at me and writing something in a notebook. I tilted my head and looked at the dog, who just stared back at me with the same confused expression. The thought I was being followed crossed my mind, but I brushed it off and continued on my way to the park.

"Rin!" A little girl shouted and tackled my waist, giving me a death hug. Luckily, she didn't touch my wound at all.

"Huh? Who?" I asked, trying my best to keep my balance and pry her arms off me.

She stepped back and pouted at me. The girl had long black hair pulled up in a ponytail and bright brown eyes. She seemed to notice my face light up when I recognized her and her lips twitched up slightly.

"Ah! Yuki! How's my favourite cousin?" I cried out, falling to my knees to pull her into a tight hug of my own.

"We were going to come see you. Mom said Auntie told her you woke up a few days ago." She hugged me back and sniffled. "You were sleeping a long time."

"Ah, sorry. I was having a really great dream." I replied with a gentle smile. "Sorry to worry you." I patted her head.

"Stupid! What could be so good you needed to sleep so long?!" She shouted at me through tears.

I smiled at her and stood up, holding out my hand for her. "I'll tell you all about it, come on."

She nodded, wiped her eyes, took my hand, and followed me to sit on a nearby bench. I waved to my Aunt who was watching while talking on her cell phone and she nodded at me. I wasn't actually going to lie to her, I did dream while I was a ghost and went to sleep. The last one I can remember was a bit weird though, so I'll just tell her about Light. Or, the fabricated story he's making me play at mixed with the dream aspect that was what actually happened.

"Well, I dreamt about a boy I knew before I fell asleep. We didn't talk much, but in my dream, we started to talk more and more. We had to solve a mystery, after all!"

"A mystery?" She asked, almost completely calmed down.

I nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! I've told you I wanted to be a detective, didn't I?"

She thought for a second, then nodded. "But what was the mystery?"

"I was a ghost and he was the only one who could see me. So, we had to figure out what happened to me."

"How did you know he could see you?"

"Well, that's a bit embarrassing, so don't laugh!" I warned playfully. "I sat down at his table at a cafe and said he was perfect, since I thought he couldn't see me, but he replied and asked if I was flirting with him. Can you believe that? Me? Flirting with him?"

She started to giggle, but tried to hold it in. "But, did you want to flirt with him?" She asked slyly.

I crossed my arms and huffed, "You're too smart for a little kid, you know that?"

"I know." She grinned.

"But, the answer would be no, well, maybe."

She giggled again. "So, what happened?"

"I told him that no one could see me and what I knew about my situation, which wasn't a lot. We investigated and threw around theories, but then one day, I dragged him to investigate a hospital room I found with my name on it that I couldn't get into before."

"And? What happens next?" She asked with anticipation.

"It's a little foggy, but I think I saw my own body sleeping and then passed out. Then I woke up and he was really there! But that might've been still part of the dream because when he ran out of the room, I never saw him at the hospital again." I sighed and shrugged. "Boys. What're you going to do?"

"Did you really know him in middle school?" She asked, ignoring my last comment.

I shook my head and grinned. "Yeah, we were actually good friends. Something that changed in my dream. I just went to his house today, but no one's home. I saw him before though and he treated me just the same as it was when we hung out at school."

She giggled. "Do you really like him?"

I felt my eyes go wide as I jumped up. "No way! Not in a million years!" I shouted, then sat back down when people looked over. I quickly whispered to her, "He's a good friend, but actually liking him like that? No way." I shook my head.

"Well, you should introduce me sometime." She grinned mischievously.

"I already told him about the dream."

She looked like I had shot her down before she even finished formulating her plan. "Fine."

"Well, you should go. Your mom looks like she wants to leave." I said, patting her head and pointing to her mother checking her watch.

"Okay. Bye Rin!" She said cheerfully, then skipped over to her mother and walked away with her.

I sighed and leaned my head back to look at the sky. "Geez, kids are such a handful."

After a few minutes, I got up and decided to head home. A few blocks from the apartment, I had the feeling of being watched and noticed the stalker again. As fear crept over me and I started walking faster to get home, I remembered it would be a bad idea to show a creep where I lived and that might be why they're following me. So they can get to me at home. Taking a deep breath, I spun around quickly, ran toward the surprised stalker, and stopped abruptly a safe distance from them.

"I don't know why you're stalking me, but I'll fight and scream and I have a belt on, so I'm really not worth it, okay?" I shouted, seeming to surprise them more.

They didn't say anything though, just stood there.

"A-And I'm not going home until you're gone!" I shouted, turning and running in the direction of the cafe. It was the only place I could hide out in and be safe until this weirdo got off my tail.

I couldn't tell if he was still following me or not, but I decided I was too tired for this and just shrugged and ran home. I locked the door behind me and made sure my mom was alright by calling her. Something felt off though. I still felt like I was being watched.

"Dammit. Now you're being paranoid. I thought we were over that Rin." I said to myself, looking in the mirror in the bathroom.

I sighed, shook my head, and pulled off my shirt, discarding it on the floor and poking at the wet bandages a few times until I flinched. It must've been the running I did, but I was starting to think this was more serious than I thought it to be. I bit my lip, considering going to the hospital, but quickly shook my head. I pulled off the bandage and got a towel, dabbing at the blood for a while before sighing again and glaring at the wound.

"Why won't you stop bleeding? His knife was only six inches and only the tip got you, right? So, what's with this? Trying to make me bleed out?" I talked to my wound bitterly as I glared.

I started to work on it again, but then the cell phone sitting on the counter rang. I snatched it without looking to see who it was and answered the call.

"Yeah? I'm a bit busy." I grumbled, wincing at the wound.

"Is it your wound? You should really go to a hospital." Light's voice came through it.

"Ah, um, nah. I was playing a game." I lied quickly. "Besides, hospitals aren't needed for this. They'd want me to file a police report, but the dude was probably right. I should learn to shut up."

"I can tell you're in pain by the way you sound. Rin, seriously, I don't think a first aid kit is going to help much. It has to be worse than we thought if it keeps bleeding."

I sighed with annoyance. "No, I just reopened it, that's all."

"How?"

"Some creep was following me all day, so I yelled at him and ran. It must've been that. My body's weak right now in the first place though, since it's been little more than a paperweight for three years."

"Someone was following you?"

"Ah, yeah. I didn't get a good look at them, but I think I scared them off, so no worries. I got home safe and sound."

"I wouldn't call that wound-"

"Shut up. I'm not going back there and you can't make me." I cut him off and hung up out of irritation. "Stop acting like you care anyway. I might as well have been dead to whoever I talked to before." I growled at the phone.

It rang again and I was about to ignore it, but then I saw the number. It was a pay phone and I had no idea who it could be. Wrong number, probably. I shrugged and answered it anyway.

"Hello?"

"Vinegar." A male's voice said quickly.

"What?"

"Rub vinegar in the wound. I know it'll hurt, but it'll heal faster." He sounded like this was urgent.

"What? Who the-" I was cut off by the line disconnecting. "What the…?"

I looked at my phone for a second, then put it on the counter and went to the kitchen. I dug in multiple cupboards and boxes until I pulled out the vinegar and returned to the bathroom. I looked at the vinegar skeptically as I poured some onto the towel.

"I'm not so sure about this…" I shook my head and gave my reflection a determined look. "Okay, mystery pay phone dude, I'll try it. Whatever gets it to heal."

Taking a deep breath, I pressed the vinegar soaked towel into my wound and would've screamed much louder if I hadn't clenched my jaw. Instead of an ear-splitting scream, it was just a muffled screeching. My eyes watered and it stung so bad I considered stopping and just washing it out, but my determination kicked in and I cleaned the entire wound, quietly screaming and crying. When I was done, I managed to bandage it while breathing heavily and as soon as I did that, I put on an oversized shirt, tossed my jeans on the floor, and just fell asleep on my bed without a care in the world.


End file.
